Jeremy Lin is the first Asian-American player in the NBA since 1947. It’s a league that is somewhere around 75% African-American and the rest of the league is made up of primarily Europeans. Of course Lin’s race is a factor in the hype. Any other statement is just someone (like Donnellon) attempting to show their open-mindedness through political correctness.

But Lin’s race isn’t the only reason for the talk.

The boy’s got game. Yes it’s only been 6 games and yes, at some point the league will catch up, but Lin’s start is the best since Lebron James’ start since 2003; you can’t discount that. Scrubs don’t just put on a pair of shorts and score 38 against the Lakers.

New York, New York. Jeremy Lin plays for the Knicks, who happen to play in New York City and the pseudo New York network ESPN is loving this. If Jeremy Lin were doing this in Milwaukee, it would be news, but #Linsanity wouldn’t be a trending topic. To paraphrase T.O, New York loves them some New York – and since they love it, everyone else has to hear about it.

It wasn’t so long ago that blacks weren’t “equipped” to be quarterbacks, but after a few black QBs had success, this short-sighted belief disappeared. This excitement around Lin is good because it’s always good when someone comes along and opens a door that everyone thought was shut, and no matter why people are paying attention, it’s nice that they are.